The former Capital is an unrestricted free agent and, without question, the most accomplished winger on the open market. He's also waiting by the phone.

Semin, 28, is a former 40-goal scorer, but his output has decreased, along with his ice time, the past two seasons. His reputation isn't helping him, either—Semin has a propensity to lose focus and take terrible penalties. Those negative qualifies are amplified, generally speaking, by widespread, low-grade xenophobia when it comes to Russian players.

One team at least considering Semin: the Carolina Hurricanes, who made a splash at the draft by trading for Jordan Staal but have so far whiffed on their stated intent to add a star winger. Zach Parise eliminated them on July 1 before eventually signing with the Minnesota Wild, and Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson reportedly opened negotiations for Nash by asking for Jeff Skinner, which would be borderline insane.

“We would look at Semin on a short-term basis,” Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford told the Raleigh News & Observer. “We wouldn’t want to get locked in to anything, because we’ve all heard the stories about him. We do like his skill level. It could be that we could bring him in for a year, get to know him and go from there in terms of considering something longer term.”

Rutherford's preference for a short-term deal is understandable. Semin's issues, unrelated to his nationality as they may be, are real. That said, demand for his services should extend beyond the Hurricanes. He might have the best wrist shot in the league, drives puck possession and, through it all, put up 54 points last season. He also has stated interest in playing high-leverage minutes and on the penalty kill—opportunities he didn't get by the end of his time in Washington.

One reason for Semin's availability is that the teams who, theoretically, should make a run at him are at least tangentially in on Nash and Ryan. The Pittsburgh Penguins are one such team, and Semin is interested in joining them, according to Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review—on a long-term deal, though. The Detroit Red Wings are another.

At some point, though, Nash and Ryan's situations are going to be resolved. When that happens, there will still be top-six openings across the league. That's likely when interest in Semin will pique. Based on the reported price of those players and Semin's relative buy-low status, it should've already.